Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

A jealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to a famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay),

Stars:

Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Martin	...	Dino
Kim Novak	...	Polly the Pistol
Ray Walston	...	Orville
Felicia Farr	...	Zelda
Cliff Osmond	...	Barney
Barbara Pepper	...	Big Bertha
Skip Ward	...	Milkman (as James Ward)
Doro Merande	...	Mrs. Pettibone
Bobo Lewis	...	Waitress
Tom Nolan	...	Johnnie Mulligan (as Tommy Nolan)
Alice Pearce	...	Mrs. Mulligan
John Fiedler	...	Rev. Carruthers
Arlen Stuart	...	Rosalie Schultz
Howard McNear	...	Mr. Pettibone
Cliff Norton	...	Mack Gray

Storyline

Dino, the charming and lecherous Las Vegas singer, stops for gas on his way to Hollywood in Climax, Nevada. The oily gas station attendant is Barney Millsap, a would-be lyricist who writes pop songs with Orville Spooner, the local piano teacher. By disabling Dino's car, Barney contrives a scheme to have Dino sing one of their songs on an upcoming TV special. To entertain Dino, Barney contacts the village tart, Polly, employing her to pretend to be Orville's wife, Zelda, for a night. She doesn't like Dino, but does love being Orville's surrogate wife. Dino goes to a bar, where he meets the real Zelda, and they spend the night together while Polly spends it with Orville.

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Plot Keywords:

piano | piano teacher | singer | nevada | nightclub | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1964 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Beija-me, Idiota

Filming Locations:

Aquarius Theater - 6230 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Phalanx Productions, Claude Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kiss Me Stupid's theatrical release date and leading actor coincide with a fact of John Wayne's western movie, True Grit. True Grit was theatrically released on Wednesday, June 11th, 1969. One decade later, John Wayne lost his life, on Monday, June 11th, 1979. Kiss Me, Stupid's theatrical release date, Thursday, December 25th, 1964, was 31 years before Dean Martin lost his life, on Monday, December 25th, 1995.

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Quotes

Mack Gray: [congratulating Dino for his act] Great, Dino, you were great. They were rolling in the aisles.
Dino: Why didn't somebody take the dice away?

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Connections

References Fun in Acapulco (1963)

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Soundtracks

"All the Livelong Day"
(pub. 1964) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Ray Walston (dubbed by Ian Freebairn-Smith)

User Reviews

Seriously under-rated.

Some people still consider this movie a flop. Having just re-watched this movie for the first time in years, I can't see why. Perhaps Walston is a bit weak in a leading role (Sellers would have been fantastic), but the script is first rate, both funny and touching.

Dean Martin and Kim Novak are seriously under-rated actors in my opinion; here Dean sends himself up as 'Dino' and is not afraid to play himself as un-likable. Novak is, as always, wonderful. Sadly Kim never seems to get the appreciation she deserves, her performances in such movies as 'Vertigo' and 'Bell, Book & Candle' are never less than first class. While the lesser-known Felicia Farr comes across very well (she was also the wife of Wilder's frequent star, Jack Lemmon, I wonder how this film would have worked with Lemmon in the Walston role?)

This is a gem of a movie and one of Wilder's best.